You Hung The Moon
by RoniMikaelson
Summary: Spoilers for 5x12 - A Tale of Two Wolves. Jackson sees his stepdaughter for the first time in thirteen years. Extended/AU scene


_**A/N Seeing Jackson in that episode, just for a second, brought out all those old emotions. I loved his character and, despite him seemingly only used as a way to add tension to Hayley and Elijah and make Klaus jealous, I was really sad to see him go in season three. And when I saw in the last episode, I was really hoping for him to actually interact with his stepdaughter... but no. So I wrote this short little bit about what I would've liked to see. Please enjoy!**_

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"I'm at peace because of you." Hayley assured her daughter as they looked upon the spirits of the crescent wolves, the dead pack members that fought and died alongside their alpha queen. Hope sucked in a breath, clinging to her mother's hands, as she looked around at the mixture of unfamiliar and familiar faces.

Grandma Mary was standing on a porch and Hope could only stare, feeling her jaw drop in awe. The sweet woman that had been the only grandmother Hope had ever had, standing there. Happy. With more life in her eyes than she'd had the last year she had lived, bedridden and thin. Hope remembered going to the bayou before she passed. Hayley had hoped she would go hang out with the other kids, but Hope had sought out her grandmother. Even at her young age, she'd been through enough to know when someone was dying. So she'd curled up beside Mary and talked with her until Hayley had reluctantly taken her home, the sun long since set below the horizon. It was the last time Hope had ever seen Mary alive.

Tearing her eyes away from Mary, Hope glanced over the rest of the faces. She picked out Josh in the crowd, even though he wasn't a wolf. He was sitting beside a man that Hope didn't recognize at first, but then she saw Josh's smile and knew. Aiden. Josh's old boyfriend, killed by Dahlia. When Dahlia was hunting her...

Hope felt the frown sink into her face, even as her mother held her. Aiden was just another death on her hands. He had been Josh's boyfriend, a friend of Davina's, one of her stepfather's best friends from childhood...

Stepfather. Jackson Kenner.

Hope glanced towards the bonfire. The guitar strumming had stopped and the player was on his feet, staring at her. She glanced towards her mother, but, in the back of her mind, she already knew who the man was.

Jackson Kenner crept forward towards the two women, as if he was unsure of who he was approaching. He stared at her with a look of confusion, until his face cleared a moment later. He recognized her.

"Hope?"

"Jackson?" It almost felt wrong to call him that; he had loved her like a daughter. Hayley had told her stories about him whenever she had asked. She knew how hard he'd fought for her, how much he loved her and her mother both. How much he wanted her to live a life away from the Mikaelson family and the danger they brought.

Hope took one hand away from her mother's to reach up and touch the necklace against her throat. The necklace he had given her mother, the one she had worn until the day she died.

"Hey, kid." Jackson greeted her, his face breaking into a gentle smile. He reached out to pull her into a hug and she sank gratefully into his arms. She was so tired still and he easily held her up against his chest, her face pressed against his plaid shirt.

Jackson had always loved kids. Mary had always teased him about it, telling him he would make a good husband one day. He wasn't sure he'd achieved that while he was alive, but the love for kids still stood. He hadn't flinched when Hayley had shown up pregnant, though he did when he found out the father. He had lived with the regret of letting Hayley mourn alone when he'd thought her baby had died. He had felt so honored and trusted when she'd told him the truth, that her baby was alive and coming home. He had met Hope for the first time, a giggling baby in her happy mother's arms, and had the sudden feeling that he couldn't wait to marry that woman, baby and all.

Hope Mikaelson would always been Klaus's daughter. But, in his mind, she would always be his daughter too.

Jackson looked over Hope's head at Hayley, who was smiling with watery eyes. Oh, how long had she wished she could see something like that? Her husband and her daughter together, with her. But Hope had to go back, she knew. But she allowed herself that one moment of joy as she watched, just something to hold her off before Hope joined them for good, when her time was right.

"Why are you here, Hope?" Jackson finally asked, pulling away to look at the girl. She was so, so much older than the baby that he'd known. But she was still so, so young. Too young to be there with them.

"I..." Hope's eyes wandered, as if literally looking for a way to explain it. After a minute, she just shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'm here. I want to stay here, mom!" She suddenly wailed, whirling to look at Hayley.

Jackson could see that Hayley was about three seconds away from completely losing it, but she clenched her jaw and tried to look strong for Hope. She took Hope's face in her hands, studying her before she spoke.

"Because it's not your time. Go back to your dad, okay, sweetie?" She tried to convince Hope, but Hope shook her head insistently, like a child refusing bedtime.

"No, no, no... I want to stay here with you and Jackson and Mary and Josh and Aiden and-." Hayley cut her daughter off with a fierce hug. Hope was trapped in between her mother and stepfather, crying on Hayley's shoulder.

"No. You're going back." Hayley pulled away to look Hope in the eyes once more. Jackson had to look away, trying not to listen to Hayley's speech about wanting Hope to live to have stories to tell her. Adventures. Epic loves. All of it. With one final, hard shake and a sharp "Wake up!", Hope faded away from them.

Back to the land of the living. Jackson should've been happy she was gone, but he felt strangely depressed that she was gone again. Looking at Hayley, he saw she was struggling with the same emotions. Her lower lip was trembling, tears finally falling from her eyes as she stared at the spot her daughter had just been.

Jackson wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she started to cry in earnest, curling herself up against his side. She sobbed into his shirt, barely able to mumble out her next words:

"I... miss her..."

"I do too." Jackson whispered, hugging her closer and kissing her head. "But she'd back. It's better this way."

"I know." Hayley pulled away and wiped at her eyes, forcing a wobbly smile onto her face for his sake. "Let's go." She ducked under his arm and he saw her heading for Josh and Aiden, no doubt to tell the vampire black sheep of the group about his friend's little visit.

Jackson hesitated, looking at the spot that Hope had stood. He had been there for so little of that kid's life. But he was intent to wait and ensure he'd be there for her when it was over. Then, finally, Jackson, Hayley and Hope could be the family he'd always wanted them to be.


End file.
